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Zimbabwe: Regional Delayed Debut
Campaign Launched
Zimbabwe has become the first; of
what will be at least 16 African
nations, to implement a regional
communication campaign to encourage
young people to delay sexual
relations as long as possible. PSI's
AIDSMark project developed the
campaign and in Zimbabwe has already
partnered with numerous faith-based
organizations to extend the reach
and impact of its healthy behavior
messaging.
The campaign, made possible through
the support of President's Emergency
Plan for AIDS Relief through USAID,
is based on qualitative research
carried out with 14-19 year olds
from eight African countries that
concludes that sexual violence and
coercion, intense peer pressure and
transactional sex are major barriers
to delayed sexual debut for African
teens. The campaign encourages young
people to rethink what it means to
be a "real man" or "real woman" in
response to research which revealed
that youth equated sex with
masculinity or femininity and often
view their first sexual encounter as
the transition into adulthood.
PSI/Zimbabwe brought together over
200 representatives from 29
religious organizations and churches
and over 11 youth groups from some
of the largest religious
institutions in Zimbabwe to the
launch of its delayed debut mass
media campaign. The campaign
encourages youth to delay or
postpone engaging in early sexual
activity, and promotes abstinence
until marriage.
The airing of the campaign messages
on TV, radio and print and the
distribution of information,
education and communication
material, will be supported by an
interpersonal communication package
for use by church groups. Youth
pastors will be trained as peer
educators, enabling them to:
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Conduct regular discussion
sessions among youth using a
discussion guide developed
by PSI; |
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Provide information on key
health issues as well as the
associated risks of early
sex; |
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Provide guidance to the
youth to tackle pressures to
engage in early sex; |
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Help young people develop
risk reduction plans for
when they face pressure to
engage in early sex; |
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Help parents improve their
communication and ability to
talk about sensitive issues
with their children. |
Research identified economic,
societal and peer pressures which
push young adults to engage in
sexual relationships. Young girls
and boys often engage in risky
transactional sexual behavior in
exchange for material goods or even
basics such as school fees.
Additionally there are an alarming
number of young people whose first
sexual encounter is coerced or
forced. Research shows that these
young boys and girls were not aware
of the associated dangers and health
risks and had very low levels of
risk perception, putting them at
increased risk for HIV infection,
other sexually transmitted
infections and early pregnancy. Data
collected in 2003 across the PSI/Zimbabwe's
20 New Start voluntary HIV
counseling and testing centers in
Zimbabwe shows a high rate of HIV
infection among young people.
From Population
Services International
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